Dragon of the Hearth
by EmperorRevan
Summary: Hestia has done something that no one could have ever expected. She has broken her oath. With no choice for fear of her brother, Hestia hides her child the only place where he would be safe from Zeus' wrath. Earthland, a completely different world from that of Earth.
1. Chapter 1

Third Person

 _Earthland X367_

A women, covered in a cloak weaved of brown cloth and gold, moved quiet as a mouse as she made her way through sprawling buildings in a relatively small village, attempting to remain unseen. Her arms were cradling something to her chest under her cloak, something that even now after only having it for a short period of time the woman couldn't help but think of as her pride and joy.

Before long the woman had made her way to a home that was close to the center of the small village, a small sigh of relief escaping her, shoulders slumping now that she reached her destination without being discovered. Though she wasn't completely out of the woods yet of course. She still had to actually get _into_ the house to make sure she avoided discovery.

Taking a deep breath and letting it all out, her right hand shifted a little bit under the cloak and causing the small bundle to tip a little bit before her body began to glow gold. She emitted a brilliantly bright light before she was suddenly gone from the front of the house. A few of the neighboring residents came out to take a look, yet dismissed the bright light when they all saw there was nothing.

She ended up reappearing on the other side of the door, staggering as she felt a sudden surge of exhaustion and bringing a hand to her head under the hood, groaning as she did so due to the migraine that was beginning to form. Her right hand shifted back to where it had been resting before she had begun to glow, the bundle now being held normally once more.

She looked around the small house she had entered, the modest home being decorated by some tapestries of a family of three, a man with short pink hair, a woman with black hair that was curled up on the sides of her head with a large bun on the back. In each of the tapestries there was a young boy with short black hair with the two adults, having a pair of dark eyes just like them.

Before she could really look around anymore the heard some loud thuds come from the second floor of the house. The woman heard some quiet mumbling before the sound of a door slowly creaking open could be heard throughout the house, not long after a soft orange glow beginning to slowly approach the stairs. When the glow reached the stairway it was revealed that the noise had been coming from a man who was holding the source of the glow, a simple candle.

The woman began to feel hope spark within her at the mere sight of the man. Dark eyes outlined with charcoal and short pink hair, a small frown on his face as he gazed upon the cloaked woman. After a few minutes of inspection he decided to speak, his voice filled with exhaustion, "Hestia? What are you doing here? You know that if you get caught here.."

The woman, now identified as Hestia shook her head quickly, still keeping the small bundle hidden under her cloak, "I know Brenton, trust me I of all people know. But I had no choice but to take the risk, its urgent." She explained, her warm brown eyes now being shown underneath the hood. They shined with hope and desperation as she gazed into his dark eyes, getting the man to look away.

They stood there in silence, the small candle casting a small amount of light onto the pair. Eventually Brenton sighed and gave in, despite his obvious misgivings, "Alright, what are you here for? It better be important if you did decide to risk discovery."

Instead of verbally answering his question, all she did was move the cloak aside and reveal the bundle that she held in her arms.

Brenton's eyes widened in shock as he took in the shock at the sight of a sleeping baby in her arms. He had light and fair skin, his hair being a light shade of pink just like his own. When the baby opened its eyes it revealed a pair of warm, golden brown orbs that gazed at him in curiosity.

He looked away from the baby and back up at Hestia, an unidentifiable emotion floating around in his eyes, "Hestia, is that baby... is it what I think it is?" He asked, his eyes still wide open as he stared at the baby in disbelief.

Hestia couldn't help but feel a small smile full of pride growing on her face as she too looked down at his tiny and curious face, "This is Natsu. He's my first son to have ever been born. He is your _second_ son. This is our child."

Brenton could only stare at Hestia in confusion, "Hestia, why did you bring him _here_ of all places? My wife will be furious with me, not to mention the rest of the village will shun me for being unfaithful! He can't stay here, he and I would not be safe!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. He brought them down and held his head as he began to think of what to do.

Hestia frowned at Brenton in disapproval at his misgivings, "Brenton, I know it would be difficult for you, but I can't keep him with me. The ancient laws forbid it, and once the rest of the gods find out that I broke my vows then I can assure you they will come for him. They will kill him without hesitation and claim he was not meant to be born. Your his only option."

Brenton stared at Hestia in disbelief, "You don't really think I can keep him with me, can you? Your mad if you think there will be anything I can do about him!" He was about to continue going on about the situation when an idea struck him. He calmed down and he began to seem calm once more as he looked at her, "Actually... there is something I can do. You were right to bring him to me Hestia. Don't worry, I'll take care of him."

Hestia seemed surprised by how quick he changed his mind, before she smiled in relief at her lover as she gazed at him, "Thank you Brenton. I know its going to be difficult, but I'll try to drop in and help whenever I can. Its better if he stays with you instead of with me, he'll actually have a chance of survival that way." She looked down at Natsu and planted a kiss on his forehead before she handed him off to his father.

Thunder boomed outside, causing Hestia to look up in worry, "My brother is looking for me here now. I have to leave before he finds me, he won't hesitate to turn this whole village into dust if he finds out this is where I hid Natsu." She muttered before she looked back down at Brenton, "This is good-bye for now. I'll try to return soon."

Brenton closed his eyes and covered Natsu's face as Hestia took a deep breath and, with no small amount of effort, began to glow gold. Soon there was a bright flash of light and she was gone, leaving Brenton standing alone at his front door with his pink haired son being held in his arms. Brenton simply stood there as he stared at the boy he held in his arms as he thought about his options. His face was set into an expression of stone-cold determination as he opened the door and left the house.

He didn't make any great attempts to stay out of sight, knowing it would be considered suspicious if he was seen lurking around the village with a baby in his arms. Not many people would be up at this time, and even fewer would question him. They wouldn't stick their noses in other peoples business, especially not his. Not if they wanted to thrive in the village.

It didn't take him long to reach the edge of the village, making much better time than Hestia did due to not attempting to hide himself. He kept walking, leaving the village grounds behind. It wasn't long before he reached the edge of a forest not far from the village, though Brenton didn't stop there. He continued onward, pushing past low-hanging branches and tall bushes that stood in his way. He didn't give much though to Natsu's comfort as he carried him, some of the branches scratching his face and getting him to cry.

The moonlight that managed to shine through the trees was barely of any help in the dense forest. After a long walk through the forest, Brenton came upon a clearing that was being completely bathed in moonlight. He could hear the distant howls from a pack of wolves. Brenton walked into the center of the clearing with a stone-cold look on his face, a crying Natsu struggling in his arms. He kneeled down and placed Natsu in the center of the clearing and stared at the boy for a few moments longer before he turned and walked away, not once looking back.

Baby Natsu was left alone in the clearing to cry, abandoned by his father, who he had been placed in the care of by his mother. His cries began to attract many different beastly inhabitants from the forest. Wolves began to approach Natsu, sensing easy prey. Crows rose from the trees and circled above, intent on getting a bit of meat from the baby. A few large reptilian pairs of eyes began to stare at Natsu and the other predators from the treeline.

 _Boom._ The wolves halted in their advance, looking around for the source of the massive echoing boom that they had just heard.

 _Boom._ The crows, sending imminent danger, quickly flew off. They knew no human baby was worth getting kill over.

 _Boom._ The glowing eyes all vanished quickly from the shadows, the baby now being left completely alone to cry in the center of the clearing once more. At least, that was for the moment.

" _Why the hell do I hear a baby crying in the middle of the damn woods?!_ " A voice, commanding respect and giving off a sense of power. Powerful gusts of wind began to shake the tree tops, the few birds that had still been in the general area quickly fleeing. Natsu's crying was reduced to a soft sniffle as he saw a massive red flying lizard above him, next to him was a lizard completely covered in flame.

Dragons. The most powerful beings to ever be known in this world, drawn in by the sound of baby Natsu's crying. One of the dragons had dark red scales with a dark yellow underbelly, with a few scars covering his face. He stood on his back two legs in the clearing, looking down at the baby for a moment before turning to his companion. The other dragon was covered in dark red flames and standing on all fours, not much being revealed about his appearance beyond the flames. These two were Igneel, king of the fire dragons and his lieutenant Atlas Flame, otherwise known as the hell-fire dragon.

"Well Igneel, it would seem that is because there _is_ a baby in the middle of the damn woods." Atlas replied once they had found the baby, quoting what Igneel had said to mess with him. Atlas turned his gaze back to the baby, staring at them both with aw. Atlas leaned down slightly to get a better look at the child, hoping to satisfy some of his curiosity, when Igneel pulled him back a bit.

"Atlas, do not get to close. He feels... strange. He has a similar feeling to that war god we faced not long ago. Not in the sense of being blood-thirsty or hell bent on destruction, but in the sense that he seems to have the same feeling as a god. Plus, your a dragon who is completely covered in fire. It would be best if you didn't get to close to him, lest you accidentally incinerate him." Igneel said, explaining the current situation before he let Atlas go.

Atlas only scoffed at his old friend however, rolling his eyes slightly as he did so, "Come now Igneel, I was only getting a better look at him. He is so tiny, and it is hard to make out much besides the fact that he, is a he. Besides, do you really think I would be so careless as to get him burned?" Atlas asked rhetorically, "Besides, I could feel it too. It's strange. Do you have any idea as to why a baby might have a similar feeling to a god?"

"What makes you think I would have any idea? We just found the child, how am I supposed to know why he feels like a god?" Igneel said, turning to Atlas in turn, "Now the real question isn't why is he out here, and what is he. Its what do we do with him?" Igneel turned back to the baby and kneeled down, picking up Natsu with some moderate difficulty. It was difficult for a gigantic being such as himself to pick up a baby to say the least.

Atlas sighed at the question, letting out some flames as he let out some air, "I do not know Igneel. If he was left out here like this, then its because his family doesn't want him or simply can't take care of him. Though that wouldn't explain why they didn't just put him up for adoption. We could head to the nearest village and leave him at an orphanage, but we'd send the humans into a panic. Plus the boy would be treated differently by other orphans due to being brought along by dragons. So I-" It was then that Atlas Flame came upon a painfully obvious solution, "Of course... Igneel, _we_ could take care of the boy."

Igneel turned a doubtful eye onto the hell-fire dragon however, "Oh? And how would we take care of him? The hair on his head has barely grown out, so he is probably still very young. So he needs a woman's milk or magic formula to survive, something neither of us can give him. And what if we accidentally crush him? He is a fragile creature, and we may accidentally kill him."

Atlas continued undeterred, despite his friends doubts, "We'll just have to be careful to make sure we don't hurt him. As for the milk... well, I'm sure Anna would be more than willing to help." Igneel looked like he was about to protest when he suddenly stopped. He looked back down at Natsu as he began to think more about how they could take care of him. Sensing his weakness, Atlas took the initiative, "Think about it. You could be the boys father, teach him about dragon and human kind alike. Teach him language, how to read, how to wright, train him to use dragon-slaying magic. When the time becomes right, I could help with his training as an uncle of sorts."

That did it. Igneel sighed in defeat and closed his fist tight around Natsu, making sure he was secure while still being able to breathe, "Damn it Atlas. I'll take him. But first we should go to Anna, before we set up any plans. If we can't get her help, were going to have to think of something else." Igneel opened his hand a little bit to stare at the child he now held, the child who he was now committing himself to, "Something tells me your going to cause me a lot of trouble kid."

"What should we call the boy? We can't just keep referring to him as 'boy' and 'child' after all. He needs a name. Something to be known as." Atlas said, getting a bit closer to get a look at the baby.

The fire dragon king had something in mind this time around, as he closed his fist around Natsu and looked at his flame covered friend, "He is to be raised by fire dragons. He seems to like fire dragons fine enough. And its summer time. I feel Natsu would be a fitting name, don't you?" Igneel asked, turning to his lieutenant.

"Natsu... a fitting name indeed. May all his enemies be turned to ash, and may he always prosper."

 **So I'm conflicted on two paths I could take. I already have a lot planned out as to how Natsu will go to Earth and the plot from there, but there is one plot point I've been fighting with myself about. And its about what to do with Zeref. Due to Zeref never knowing Natsu and Natsu never dying, Zeref won't become the infamous black wizard and Natsu WILL NOT be E.N.D . The demons of Tartaros will never be created, the Eclipse Gate will never be made, and Acnologia will never come to be. Fairy Tail will never be founded, and the dragons will never go extinct. Basically, Earthland would be vastly different. If anything, Earthland would likely eventually become a society where dragons and humans co-exist in harmony, Igneels side of the war winning, which would be cool... but there is nothing to do with Earthland then. None of the characters in Fairy Tail would be the same or even exist. I would have no reason to touch Earthland. Now my other option is have Zeref become the infamous dark wizard for a different reason, and from there Earthland would be the Earthland we know. What do y'all think I should go with? Normal Zeref, or the infamous Black Wizard?**


	2. Chapter 2

Third Person

 _Three years later_

A young boy with spiky pink hair and fire covered fists threw a jab at a large tree in front of him. He brought his hand back and hit the tree with his other hand, before bringing it back and once again striking out with his fist. Strike, return, repeat. The boy was doing this as a form of endurance and strength training, trying to inflict as much damage with each hit as possible while also learning to deal with the pain and take a hit.

Nearby was a massive cave entrance, one that Igneel soon came out of. He looked on towards his adopted son with warm eyes full of love and pride. He and Atlas had been lucky when they went to Anna, the celestial spirit mage agreeing to help with the milk problem. After two years, when Natsu had begun to learn how to speak, read, and write, Igneel decided to start teaching Natsu dragon slayer magic. Nothing big, just little things like small breaths of fire and being able to cover certain body parts in fire initially.

After each month he would have Natsu do a little bit more when it came to his powers. Breathing out more flame for a longer amount of time, covering a certain body part in flame for a longer amount of time, building up his power and how long he can use it. Soon he moved on to getting Natsu to use his fire breath offensively instead of just doing it passively while breathing. He began getting Natsu to form shapes from the flame and getting him to cover his entire body in fire. It was only the basics, but for now it was more than enough.

Igneel held up a dark red lacrima, fire seemingly blazing inside the orb. Atlas had given this lacrima, a dragon slaying lacrima, to Igneel, telling him to give it to Natsu as a gift when he was advanced enough with his magic. He didn't say specifically when to give it to him, just when he had advanced in his training. This wasn't just any dragon slayer lacrima that either humans or minor dragons had made. This lacrima was made by Atlas, using his own power. This was a hell-fire dragon lacrima.

Igneel took one last look at the lacrima before he hid the orb on a natural shelf higher up in the cave where Natsu wouldn't be able to get to it before he turned to his son, "Natsu! Come here you little brat!" He bellowed, his loud voice causing all the nearby animals to flee the area in terror, though Natsu only looked at his adopted father in excitement. He stopped hitting the tree and ran back to his dragon father, Igneel taking note of his bruised knuckles. He didn't like seeing Natsu hurt himself, but he could see he was making progress. The first time he had used trees for training he had bloodied his knuckles.

"Hey dad! Whats up? Are we gonna go flying? Are we gonna visit some of the other dragons? NO! Are we gonna go visit Uncle Atlas? Oh come on, lets go see Uncle Atlas!" He shot out the questions at a rapid fire pace, his eyes gleaming with that child like innocence and excitement at the prospect of an adventure, especially if that adventure his 'Totally cool and awesome best uncle to have ever been an uncle.' It had been a messy title, but that didn't stop Atlas from taking pride in it.

"No, we're not going to go and see Atlas. Not today at least. Today, I felt it was prudent you met another friend of mine. He will be bringing someone I think you'll be very interested in meeting." Igneel explaining, Natsu looking a bit down now that he knew they weren't going to go and see the hell-fire dragon. However he decided not to dwell on it, perking back up once he realized they were still going to go and see a dragon, and a new one at that! He wondered if this one would be anything like Aunty Grandine...

He was shaken from his thoughts by Igneel, the fire dragon king picking him up by the back of his shirt and putting him on his back. The dragon then crouched down and lifted his wings before he propelled himself into the air. Natsu laid down low on his fathers back and held on tight, making sure he didn't fall off the massive dragon. The last time he did Igneel hadn't noticed until the last second, and he had nearly eaten the dirt because of it. Luckily Igneel had barely been able to catch him in time.

Natsu yelled out in pure glee as Igneel soared through the skies toward their destination. The fire dragon couldn't help but grin at his son, wishing he could find a way for him to fly on his own. He knew Natsu loved flying and the feeling of freedom that came with flight, and he also knew he loved dragons and wanted to be more like them, sadly there was no way that Igneel knew of that would give Natsu wings. Not without completely turning into a different creature that naturally had wings. And he didn't know of any magics that allowed its user to fly. He knew they existed, but he didn't know how to teach Natsu.

His eyes wide in excitement, Natsu didn't know just what he was about to meet, or rather the type of person he was about to meet. He had met a few other dragons before, his uncle Atlas and aunt Grandine being two. He couldn't help but wonder who he and Igneel were going to see, and what was just so special about them. Especially since they'd be bringing someone he'd be interested in. He couldn't help but wonder why the thought of meeting this new person made him feel ready for a fight.

 _Line-break_

Igneel was stuck with the job of carrying Natsu in his hand, the young dragon slayer having fallen asleep on his back around the half-way mark. He wasn't really surprised to be honest, after all he had probably used up a good chunk of his magic and energy training earlier in the day without getting the chance to rest, and he hadn't taught Natsu how to eat fire yet so that he could replenish his magic. He was exhausted, and quite frankly Igneel was happy to let him rest. He couldn't help but feel he had more than earned it.

Igneel landed in front of a cave, having finally reached his and Natsu's destination. The young dragon slayer woke up in his hand and began to stretch, trying to get the blood flowing a bit more. Igneel opened up his hand when he realized Natsu was waking up from the nap he was taking, the young slayer looking around to see where his father had taken them. He was a bit underwhelmed to say the least. The only thing that really stood out to him was the cave large enough to fit a dragon, which wasn't really amazing to Natsu since he already lived in a cave like that.

Igneel lowered his hand and let Natsu hop off of his hand before he lead him into the cave slowly, mostly because Natsu had much shorter legs and couldn't keep up with Igneel if he went at a decent pace. Though as Igneel moved in, Natsu was able to notice how tense he was, and how he kept looking around the cave as they went into it further.

Before long the flame duo got to the back of the cave, a large open space that was more than large enough to fit multiple dragons. A good thing, considering Igneel needed the room to both jump away from Natsu, grab the large grey dragon that had jumped at him, and toss him into a wall. At first Natsu was about to run over to his dad to try and help when he jumped back a little, a child with spiky black hair and an arm covered in metal punching where he had been just a few seconds before.

Natsu covered both his arms in fire and jumped at the other kid, his attacker launching himself at him with metal covered arms. As they collided, they both imagined a battle of epic proportions...

And they both just started slapping at each other. They turned their faces away from each other and began to just smack each other with fire and steel, each of them thinking they were going to win this battle.

On the other side of the cave however, Igneel had already pinned the grey dragon that had attacked him to the ground. He was holding him by his neck, growling in irritation as he looked down at the dragon, "Damn it Metalicana, could you for once go one visit without attempting to attack me?!" He yelled at the iron dragon, said dragon just chuckling at the fire king.

"Where is the fun in that Igneel? Now let me up you over-rated flame thrower." Metalicana replied, pushing himself up as Igneel slowly began to back away from him. They both turned over to where Natsu and the other boy had been fighting, Igneel sighing at his son while Metalicana slammed a hand into his face with a groan. Once they got over the way they were fighting they decided to speak up.

"Natsu stop fighting that boy at once!"

"Gajeel stop being a damn moron and calm down!"

The two boys, hearing the calls of their fathers, instantly jumped away from each other. However the two kept on glaring at each other afterwards, Natsu's face being bruised up while the other boy, Gajeels, was covered in some burns. The two kept their eyes on each other as they moved towards their respective fathers, ready to begin fighting each other at any moment.

Igneel and Metalicana rolled his eyes at the two boys before he decided to introduce Natsu, "Natsu, I'd like you to meet my old friend Metalicana, the iron dragon. This is his son, Gajeel. He's training to be the iron dragon slayer, just like how you are training to become the fire dragon slayer. Gajeel, Metalicana, this is my son Natsu. As I have already stated he is training to be the fire dragon slayer."

Metalicana scoffed a little bit as he added on one little tidbit, "He forgot to mention that he is also the king of the fire dragons and that, technically, Natsu is the prince because of that."

Gajeel and Natsu continued to glare at each other however, though Natsu was certainly interested to be meeting another dragon slayer. He had only met other dragons, and as far as he had known he was the only dragon slayer that was being trained. If anything it brought him slight relief to know that there would be others like him in the world if he ever needed help fighting a dragon. Well, help _besides_ his dad, his uncle, and his aunt.

Likewise Gajeel was also interested in the fact that Natsu was a dragon slayer, though for a few different reasons. One was the fact that he was being trained by a dragon king, and he didn't know if that made his magic any different than a dragon slayer trained by a dragon that wasn't a king. The other reason he was interested however... was having a proper rival.

Igneel and Metalicana exchanged a knowing glance, having a few guesses as to what they were both thinking about. After all, they were their children after all and if they were anything like them, they probably were thinking exactly what they had been when they met.

If only the two dragons knew that the two slayers would never really get a chance to be true rivals.

 **Zephyr47**

 **Totally the infamous Black Wizard. I mean it just wouldn't be Fairy Tail if there is no Black Wizard and all the other stuff that results from him being infamous. You could have Zeref discover him with Igneel and have him make a deal with Igneel to send him into the future. He does have a power of a god inside him so that will be the reason why he will be the perfect candidate to become E.N.D. and learn dragonslayer magic to slay Acnologia and Zeref in the future.**

 **Response- He would be the worst candidate to become E.N.D. Turning a half-god into a demon? Or even half-demon? Actually half would be worse, he would be two directly opposing natures. He would tear himself apart. At this point with all the reviews I will be making Zeref his infamous dark wizard self. One thing I will state is that Natsu will NEVER at any point in this story be E.N.D. He will never be Etherious Natsu Dragneel, he will just be Natsu Dragneel. If anyone has an issue with that, or an issue with the story because of that... well, I don't really care to be honest.**

 **Guest**

 **No Acnologia and the Dragon war can still happen so can fairy tail just not the same as before**

 **Response- I'll make one thing clear from here on out, guest reviews will be completely ignored from this point forward. I am just responding to this one because I felt it was stupid. If it wasn't for Zeref Fairy Tail would have never been founded. I'll go into a bit more detail about this than before. Zeref was the man who taught Mavis and her friends magic to liberate Magnolia. If Zeref doesn't get cursed and become the infamous black wizard, then he dies long before anyone from Mavis' era is even born. Meaning he would never teach her and her friends magic, meaning they would never liberate Magnolia or form a wizard guild. Zeref not existing could even go as far as to prevent the birth of Makarov, Ivan, and Laxus Dreyer. Zeref never becoming a dark wizard means no demons so Gray would never be a wizard. This also means no cultists, which means Erza's village would never be destroyed. Now when it comes to Acnologia... I have different plans for him, that is all I will disclose here. It will be very different though, be sure of that.**


	3. Chapter 3

Third Person

 _Igneels cav_ e

 _4 years later_

Natsu was laying on his back, staying in the very far back of the cave. He was panting, his body covered in sweat and his eyes wide from a combination of shock and excitement. The reason he was so exhausted was due to his training, however today his training had ended up going very... differently to say the least.

 _~Earlier in the day~_

 _Natsu unleashed a breath attack on a large boulder, pouring as much power as he possibly could into the attack. His dad had told him that while he would always have his secret arts and such when he became capable of using them, the breath attack was always one of the strongest standard moves a dragon slayer or dragon could utilize._ _It was due to this fact that Natsu had went and decided to dedicate today to just making his roar stronger. Igneel had shown him how strong his breath attack was for an example, and to say Natsu was awed may be putting it lightly. He knew his dad was strong, he was king of the fire dragons for a reason after all, but to have a breath attack so powerful it wiped out an entire mountain range?_

 _He knew it would be a long while before he could even hope to match the raw power of a fire dragon kings breath attack, but in the meantime he could train his breath attack to be the best it could be at this current moment in time. Which was why he forced himself to keep the breath attack going for three minutes, completely draining his magic reserves, the young boys body being covered in sweat from the exertion of using up so much power._

 _The prolonged breath attack had been able to partially melt the rock, which was better than what Natsu was capable of before, his breath attack having only been able to scorch previous rocks. Yet while he had made good progress, it still made him feel disappointed having hoped his breath_ _attack was stronger than that. He needed to be able to utilize his breath attack has a game changer in case he was ever in danger of losing in a fight._

 _Natsu took in a deep breath, and using his remaining magic power he began to let loose one final breath attack. It was his smallest one yet, and it was barely scorching the rock with the small amount of magic power fueling it. He was about to cut off the power fueling the breath attack, knowing it would be dangerous if he used too much magic power, only for him to feel a sudden boost in his reserves. His flames became gold, and a layer of golden flame covered his body like a second skin. It wasn't long before he used this new power up, the rock he had been being half melted._

 _The young dragon slayers legs shook as he struggled to stay on his feet, having used up nearly all his power in that attack. He was shocked at the sudden boost in magic, as well as the change in color his flames underwent. When he had gained the sudden power boost he had felt a certain warmth spread all over his body, and he felt joy when the power had unlocked._

 _~Now~_

Natsu couldn't stop a grin from forming on his face as he fully came to terms with what had happened. He wasn't sure how he had done it exactly, if it was caused by his near empty reserves or by something else, but he knew that the boost could only be a good thing. Not only had it nearly doubled his reserves, but when he had felt the boost he felt a warmth spread all throughout his body.

However he couldn't also help but feel like something was missing. The warmth was similar to what he felt when he and Igneel would simply take the time to spend time together, no training, no hunting, no flying. Just staying home and laying down together or talking. It was the warmth he felt from spending time with his father, the only parent he had ever known.

Natsu took a deep breath and let it out, slowly forcing himself up so he could get a drink from a nearby river. However right before he could go and get some water he heard a loud roar come from nearby. If he had been anyone else he would've felt terror at the roar, and all the surrounding wildlife would have gone running. However at this point, they were all used to the roar, Natsu knowing it by heart.

Igneel landed in front of the cave with a loud _boom_ , the massive fire dragon dropping a carcass next to the entrance of the cave. Igneel had burnt it beyond recognition, cooking the meat in the process so that it was completely safe for Natsu to eat. However the dragon didn't get the chance to eat, noticing the state Natsu was in. He could feel almost no magic power coming from Natsu, and the boy was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Yet he couldn't help but notice something else about the boy, a certain aura he was now radiating...

Igneel couldn't help but sigh at his adopted son and shook his head at him, "Natsu, I have told you an uncountable number of times to not use up too much magic power when training. You know that if you do, you come under threat of falling ill to magic deficiency disease, don't you?" One of Igneels biggest fears was that Natsu would completely empty his magic reserves someday and fall ill. Many powerful mages had lost their lives or became magically crippled due to overuse of magic. It was more common for children who were born with low magic to be susceptible to the disease, but it was still entirely possible for those who had emptied their reserves.

Natsu rubbed the back of his neck and laughed a little bit, looking away from his father at the reminder. He had been told many times during his training that he had to be careful not to go too far, but this time it wasn't entirely his fault, "I know dad, but this time I didn't do it on purpose! I had been training to make my roar stronger and I was gonna do one last roar but right as I was about to stop I felt SUPER strong and my fire turned gold and completely melted half the rock and I-"

"Natsu, slow down and let me think for a moment!" Igneel yelled out, knowing it would be the only way to really get Natsu's attention now that he was so hyped up. The fire dragon shook his head with a groan before he spoke, "So let me get this straight. You were training to increase the power of your roar, and right as you were about to stop your last roar you felt a boost in power. For some reason your fire turned gold in the process, is that all?"

Natsu nodded his head, getting Igneel to raise a hand to his chin in thought. The fire dragon had of course heard about mages gaining sudden power boosts when they were in very stressful situations, his celestial spirit mage friend Anna having told him a few things. This power boost was normally known as a "second origin" or as some magic worshipers called it, "The origin of magic power". Yet Natsu wasn't really under any stress, so he shouldn't have unlocked any origin type power boost.

"Natsu, could you please show me where you were training? I would like to take a look at the rocks myself." Igneel asked, knowing Natsu would waste no time in trying to show him once asked. He loved taking every chance he could to show off his strength.

Just as he predicted Natsu ran ahead of him, leading him over to where he had been training. When Natsu looked at the rocks, he at first saw nothing out of the ordinary. The first rock had some scorch marks, which was what he had seen Natsus roars do normally. A rock that looked like it had begun to melt, showing where Natsu had improved. And then there was the rock where half of it was melted, the rock now being about half the size.

Igneels eyes widened at the feeling he got from the rock, _'It feels different from the other blasts. There are traces of dragon slayer magic where Natsu had fired his first few blasts of fire, but on this last rock there are traces of godly power mixed in with his dragon slayer magic.'_ When he and Atlas had first found Natsu they had, had no idea as to why he felt like a god, but now it was all starting to click. He had the same feeling as a god though it wasn't as potent as a gods, he aged at a normal human rate, had impressive magic reserves even for a child. He was the child of a god and human.

 _'There are supposedly legends of children like that existing, a few rare gods being able to shrink themselves down to the same size as a human before they procreated with humans. I need to keep Natsu away from any and all cultists, if they somehow figured out what he was he'd be hunted for as long as he lived...'_

He was shaken out of his thoughts by Natsu, the young dragon slayer had a smile that radiated his joy and pride in his accomplishment, "Well dad, what do you think? Do you think my roar is super strong now?!"

Natsu had been worried for a moment by Igneels silence, only for his grin to return in full force when a laugh roared out from Igneel, "You've done great Natsu! I can't believe just how much you've grown in one day! It won't be long now before you'll be able to take me on, eh?"

Natsu couldn't help himself as he yelled out, jumping in the air with a fist raised up, "Yes! I knew you'd like it! I was worried you'd be mad at me over using too much magic, but it was worth it!"

Igneel couldn't help but laugh with his son, pride shining in his massive eyes, though his thoughts were much more serious than his outward appearance may let on, _'Yes Natsu, I am very proud of you. And as my son, I will never allow any harm to come to you. Half-god, human, or dragon you are my son. My pride and joy. No one will ever touch you under my watch.'_

Igneel stopped laughing as he thought about Atlas. Or more specifically, his gift to Natsu. He nodded to himself, making a decision and suddenly picking Natsu up and taking him back into the cave.

The young fire dragon slayer yelled in shock at suddenly being picked up. He was placed carefully in the palm of Igneels other hand as he then reached up for something that Natsu couldn't see, his hand reaching up to one of the many natural shelves in the cave.

His fathers hand came back down carrying a dark red orb in between two of his claws. He put Natsu down on the ground and kneeled down in front of his adopted son, "Natsu. I was told by your uncle Atlas not to give this to you until I felt the time was right, when I felt you had advanced far enough in your training. I wasn't sure how long it would take for that time to come, but I can clearly see that the time is now."

Natsu looked at the orb in wonder, reaching out and placing his hands on it, "Wow... what is it dad? Why didn't uncle want me to have it until I had gotten strong enough?"

"Because this, this is a dragon slaying lacrima Natsu. Atlas made it just for you. It will give you a massive boost in magical power, as well as enhancing your senses even further than they already are. Additionally your flames will be more potent, and near impossible to extinguish by anyone who isn't you. With this lacrima comes the knowledge of how to use all its moves, including its secret arts. He made sure to add those as we wouldn't have the time to train you in both our magics, and to go back in forth between our caves." Igneel said, finishing his explanation.

Natsu now looked even happier than he did before, "Awesome! How does it work?"

Igneel looked at his son with pride before he knocked him out, taking him to Anna's so they could implant the lacrima.

 **A few things about what the lacrima does. I know at least some of you are gonna think I'm being lazy, giving Natsu the knowledge of how to use the power right off the bat without training with Atlas. But the simple fact of the matter is my timeline is already gonna be a bit squished without squeezing in training time with uncle Atlas. Not to mention this seems to be how the dragon slayer lacrimas work for the most part in canon. Cobra and Laxus didn't get trained in how to use dragon slayer magic by a dragon, yet they seemed much more powerful and advanced than Natsu and the other first gens. They knew all their moves and how to use their magic without a proper teacher. So this is why I am going along this route with the lacrima, not to mention I have a few smaller things planned for how the fire can be used.**

 **Now y'all have said Zeref should be the infamous black wizard... so he shall be! Some of you have put ideas in your reviews, and some have pmmed me some.. extremely poor ideas. However I will be happy to inform you I will use... none of them! As I already had my own little plan. So stay tuned for that!**

 **Also depending on how much I put in the next few chapters, we should get to the good stuff at around chapter 8 or 9. Expect something a little bit different for the next few chapters however. Also the good stuff... let me just say, its not gonna be what you all expecting it to be.**


	4. Chapter 4

Third Person

 _~During Natsus lacrima implantation~_

 _Natsus village_

A young man by the name of Zeref Dragneel sighed as he looked at his father, the man sleeping on the couch in the living room. Even when he was asleep the man seemed terrified, like something was out to get him even in his dreams.

He never knew what had caused the sudden change. One day his father had been his usual stoic self, he went around town helping where he could and spent some time talking with the elders, it was most likely they had been discussing the approaching winter.

However he changed the next morning. Where before he was stoic and fearless, he now seemed terrified. He would peek around every corner, he would always look around every room he was in and examine everything, even when he was home. Whenever he went to sleep it was like he was having a nightmare.

He didn't know what was wrong, and he had wondered over the years what it was that changed him. Sometimes he would overhear a few of his mutterings as he slept, saying things like "Hestia, no!" and "I'm sorry!" Even in his sleep his voice was filled with guilt and fear. He knew it was particularly bad this time if he had been sent to sleep on the couch because of his nightmares.

Despite how curious he was, the young Dragneel never asked his father what was wrong. He had been taught by his father when he was little not to ask questions. He would be told what he needed to know when his father deemed it important to know.

To be completely honest he didn't mind that. He was never very close to his father, and while he was a bit closer to his mother they were still a bit estranged. He knew it wasn't normal for someone to be so detached from their parents, but that's just how it was for him and his family. It doesn't mean that he likes it.

He shook his head and opened the door, leaving his home to go out for a stroll. His parents wouldn't mind, he was allowed to do as he pleased for the most part.

As he went to the edge of the village, staying quiet and avoiding the few people who were up and about at this time of night. Once he got close to the edge of the village he saw a bright flash of light not too far away.

Zeref felt curiosity bubbling inside him, coming to the conclusion that he had just seen a burst of magic. He began to head towards it, thinking he would find a mage as the source of the light.

It wasn't long before a woman ran into him, bringing them both down to the ground. She was wearing a brown cloak and she seemed to have a warm orange aura around her, just being near her filling Zeref with feelings of safety and content.

They both got up, the woman quickly turning around to leave before he decided to stop her, "Wait! You were the source of that flash of light just now, right? Who are you?"

She at first seemed hesitant to say anything to him, being tensed up and obviously ready to continue to where she needed to go. However she eventually gave in, realizing the young man before her wouldn't go till she answered his questions, "Yes, I was the source of that light. My name is Hestia. Now if you would excuse me I really need to go."

Immediately the name rang alarm bells in his head, Zeref thinking back to his fathers mutterings as he looked at the woman, "Hestia? Would you happen to know a man by the name of Brenton Dragneel?" He asked, slightly nervous.

Zeref could tell this woman was powerful. Just standing next to her was enough for him to figure that out. He wasn't sure if he could trust her, after all what type of woman would it take for her to give his father continuous nightmares?

Hestias eyes flashed with recognition, the woman slowly beginning to back away from Zeref, "Yes, I do. You could say I know him quite well. Why? What is your connection to Brenton?" Hestia asked, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger.

She could tell there was a latent power in this boy, but that isn't what bothered her. No, what bothered her was the fact she seemed to know about her. If the truth about her, Brenton, and Natsu had been spread then he may be in trouble, she may not even get to see them despite all the trouble she had gone through to return.

Seven years. It had taken her seven years to regain enough of Zeus' trust to sneak back over to Earthland to see her child and her secret lover. If she couldn't even get to them, then all the time and effort she had put in will have been completely wasted...

"Do you know why my father has been acting differently? Are you the reason?" Zeref asked, now knowing that this was the same Hestia his father talked about as he slept. He wouldn't be able to find out the truth from his father, however Hestia may be a different story.

Hestia frowned at the question, confusion starting to bubble up inside her, "Your father? Your Brentons eldest son I assume? And just what do you mean he has been acting differently?" She questioned, the goddess of the hearth wondering just what he meant.

Zeref tilted his head at the way she said 'Eldest son' as if his father had another one, "Yes, Brenton is my father. I'm not just his eldest son, I'm his only son. My name is Zeref. My father has never had another child, not one that I'm aware of. And I mean he has nightmares every night and always seems fearful. He mutters your name as he sleeps." Zeref finished, crossing his arms as his nervousness began to fade away.

Hestia froze up however at what the young Zeref had told her, ' _As far as he knew Brenton had no other children? What did he mean by that? She had brought Natsu directly to Brenton, Zeref should certainly know about Natsu. He is the boys younger brother!'_

Hestia then began to consider a terrible possibility. One that she was hoping could be proven wrong, "How long has he been acting so fearful for? Do you know, or do you not remember?"

Zeref brought a hand up to his chin as he looked up in contemplation, being a bit more at ease around the woman, "Well, I was little when he started to act different, but if I had to take a guess I'd say hes been acting like this for the past seven years or so."

Hestia stopped moving entirely as she began to think more about the night she had handed Natsu over to Brenton, _'When I gave Natsu to him he had been against it completely when he suddenly became agreeable. If Zeref has never known that he has a younger brother, and if Brenton has been having nightmares and talking about me as_ _he sleeps...'_

"Your... you are absolutely certain that Brenton has never had another child? You have never seen or heard of your father having another child?" Hestia asked, desperation and fear beginning to layer her voice as she feared the worst.

She thought about the way he said he had a way to take care of Natsu, right after he had initially been freaking out about having an illegitimate child. She had thought it was strange but she didn't really have the time to question it. It seems she should not have been at all trusting of Brenton.

Hestia was a goddess who was all about family. To think that a man she had grown to love may have killed their only son...

She suddenly felt a surge of weakness overcome her. She leaned against a nearby house to support herself and prevent her from falling down.

Zeref of course felt worried for her health, it was quickly becoming clear that she was distressed over something. For some reason that something made him began to grow cold, feeling something was very wrong here.

That was when it all clicked. He felt the same feeling as Hestia, the same feeling of weakness as he fell against a wall. He looked at Hestia with wide eyes full of shock asked, "My father... he had another child with you, didn't he?"

Hestia only nodded in response, not saying anything as she just thought about it more and more. She knew he had seemed more worried for himself than for her or their child, but to do something as drastic as this...

That was all Zeref needed. He glared down at the ground, hatred in his eyes as he backed away from the house, resolve giving him newfound strength, "Hestia, I would advise leaving the village for a little while. I need to take care of something, and I don't want you getting caught in the middle of it."

Zeref turned away from the woman and began to head back towards his house, Hestia looking at his back as he walked away before she flashed away from the village. If she wasn't so distraught, if she had been thinking clearly, maybe she could have stopped the slaughter.

 _The Dragneel residence_

He didn't know what it was that woke him, but Brenton could only feel fear as he woke up. At first the head of the Dragneel residence thought it was due to his ever-present nightmares, but he knew that wasn't the case when he saw his son standing in the doorway.

His eldest son had always been very passive, even as a child. He was fairly quiet and it took a lot of pushing to get him to lose his temper, Zeref getting angry had been a more rare occurrence than a flood in the desert with how he was.

This was why Brenton felt his heart clench with fear when he saw his son. Zeref had a murderous look on his face as he glared at his father, and instead of his nornal black eyes they were red, with darker red circles in his eyes making layers of a sorts.

He slowly got up, all the while keeping an eye on his son. He knew something was wrong for him to be looking at him like that, this much was obvious, but the reason as to why he was being given that looked eluded him.

It was then that Zeref spoke, his voice as cold as ice while his eyes seemed to stare into his very soul, "Its good to see your awake, _father_. That will make this much easier and much more enjoyable for me." He stated coldly as he slowly began to advance on his father.

Brenton slowly began to back away from his son, his fear filled eyes not daring to look away from him, "Z-zeref, whats wrong? Did something h-happen? You know-" Brenton was quickly cut off as he saw darkness begin to shroud Zeref, making him all the more intimidating.

"Yes, your right. I do know. I know about my little brother. I know about Hestia, the woman you had an affair with. I know how you killed my little brother before anyone could know he existed seven years ago." Zeref told him, his rage barely being restrained.

Brenton froze in his tracks. It was almost like he couldn't move anymore. At first his mind had trouble registering the new info as Brenton stared at Zeref, shock being added on to his fear. He began to shake as he realized he had been exposed.

"H-how did you find out?" He asked fearfully. Even though he was much more fearful and paranoid than he was before Hestia had brought Natsu to them and he subsequently left him for dead, he had still been quite prideful. Now however, that pride seemingly vanished now that his son knew the truth.

It took only word for Brenton to know that he had screwed up. One word to let him know he was done for.

"Hestia." Zeref states, before a massive wave of darkness come flying off of him. The last thing Brenton saw was the dark wave before everything went black, and Brenton Dragneel was no more.

Zeref didn't stop there. In his rage, he decided to let out all his pent up anger and frustration that had culminated over the years. The way he was treated because he was more mature than other children his age. The way the adults were little more than machines. The way his parents barely seemed to actually care.

He let all of it now. He let his darkness consume the village. He allowed the lights of every single living thing to be snuffed out.

It was with this act that a powerful dark wizard was born. The blessing he was given at birth would see to his full rise to power.

 _Away from the village in a forest clearing_

Hestia was sitting on her knees in the middle of a clearing, coincidentally the same on Brenton had left Natsu to die in. There was a glassy, dead look in her eyes as she kept running the revelation through her head.

' _He killed our son..._ '

She had never even thought of that. She thought at the most, he may give him away to someone else behind her back, despite making it seem like he would be the one to care for him. She thought the chances were slim however, but she never thought he was capable of killing him...

The goddess was so lost in thought she didn't notice a loud _boom_. The sound started to get closer as she sat there, and it was not until the sound was nearly on top of her that she noticed, tears streaming down her face as she looked up at the source of the noise.

There, hovering above her, was the hell fire dragon Atlas Flame. The dragon stared down at the woman for a few momenta before he snorted and landed in front of her.

She looked at the dragon with some surprise, but not really caring too much. She knew the dragons of Earthland were very different than the ones from her world, their strength apparently being on par with the strength of a gods. She wasn't too worried about this dragon being aggressive however.

If it decided to kill her, it would just mean some time in Tartarus. And yet she couldn't care less. Imagine her shock when the dragon simply snorted again and shook his head at her.

"It is just coincidence that I found you here, or some weird twist of fate?" Atlas muttered, more or less talking to himself instead of the woman, "Either way, I suppose it is a good thing I found you. Would you happen to be missing a child? A boy with pink hair with brown eyes?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

The woman immediately stood up at the question as hope shined in her eyes, "Yes, that's my son! I just found out his father tried to kill him! How did you find him? Did you save him?" She asked, her despair almost completely forgotten. There was a small whisper in the back of her mind, telling her this was only a trick. This was a whisper she ignored.

Atlas simply hmphed as he looked down at the woman. Normally he would've simply passed her by without a second glance, but the power she radiated had caught his attention. It felt exactly the same as Natsu when he had first been found.

It was only after a few seconds of silence that he decided to end it and give her an answer, "Yes goddess. I found him as I was flying around the area with a close friend. My friend has actually been taking care of him for the past seven years. Would you like to come and see him?" He asked, already knowing what she was probably going to say.

 _~Back at Natsu's and Igneels cave~_

Igneel sighed as he stared down at Natsus unconscious form. Weisslogia and skiadrum had told him that if he implanted a lacrima into Natsus body he would more than likely be out for quite a while. If he and Natsu were lucky, he would be out for about twenty-four hours at best. However on the other side of the spectrum, he could end up being unconscious for as long as a week.

When he wakes up he would of course feel newfound strength from the lacrima coursing through his body, but he would easily notice how hungry and thirsty he was. That was what worried Igneel the most. He had no way to keep Natsu properly hydrated while he was unconscious. He was just gonna have to hope that it wouldn't take him a week to arise from his lacrima induced slumber.

He was shaken from his thoughts at the sound of a roar sounding off nearby. It wasn't a challenge or an aggressive enemy in the area. No, it was simply Atlas letting him know that he was here so that Igneel wouldn't accidentally attack him without looking... again...

It didn't take long for the hell-fire dragon to land in front of the entrance to Igneels cave, the dragon quickly noticed Natsu unconscious and on the ground. Upon seeing his 'Nephew' in this state he immediately moved over to him and looked at him with concern. It was then that Igneel got a glimpse of a woman on Atlas' back.

He would have thought it was very strange that there was a woman who was capable of even touching Atlas, much less riding on top of him as he flew. However it didn't take him long to see her for what she really was, not when her presence felt so similar to Natsus when they had first found him that night seven years ago.

"You brought a goddess here, Atlas?" Igneel, asking a rhetorical question, didn't give him the time to answer and turned to the woman who was on Atlas' back, and staring at Natsu with a fear filled gaze, "What is your name goddess? Why are you here?"

Hestia looked at Igneel, slightly startled at the fact that the massive fire dragon was addressing her out of the blue. She could tell when she had met Atlas Flame just a few short hours ago that he was strong, this dragon however... he was on a whole other level from Atlas. She could tell that his power was that of an olympian gods in comparison to that of a minor god. He was not to be taken lightly.

The fact that he could potentially be so dangerous, and possibly even short tempered, is not what got her to respond however, "I'm Hestia, the goddess of the hearth. I came to see your son... or rather, I came here so that I could see my son." She stated, her voice becoming a bit more stern when she said she came to see her son.

Igneel glared at Hestia however, recognizing the danger Atlas put Hestia down and picked up Natsu before he backed away, not wanting the boy to get hurt if the dragon king and goddess got into an argument. Said dragon king seemed to already be losing his temper as he replied, "Is that so? You come here to see MY son, who I have been teaching, nurchering, training him? Or to sum things up, raising him as if he were MY CHILD?" He roared out, stomping towards the goddes as his eyes flashed with rage. Igneel could be very reasonable, but he would not stand for some presumptuous deity coming into his home and claiming his child.

To her credit, the goddess of the Hearth didn't even flinch at the sudden increase in the dragons rage. She had been ready to be killed and sent to Tartarus earlier, but having her son nearby had changed that. Knowing what had happened with Brenton made her determined to take care of him and to keep him safe, "You may have been the one to take care of him because of the circumstances you found him in, but that does not change the fact he is MY son! I appreciate what you have done for him, trust me I really do, but I will not stand idly by when I can still be his mother!"

The dragon and the goddess were stuck in a glaring contest, trying to make the other back down. Atlas had at first been nervous at Igneel going all out right off the bat, but he was beginning to get irritated due to the useless bickering. He knew this was an important matter, but there was a simple solution to all this. It was just their pride that kept them from seeing it. Igneels pride as a dragon king, and Hestias pride as a goddess and mother.

"If you two are done, then may I suggest that you both be a part of Natsus life?" Atlas suggested as he looked at the two in irritation. They both turned their glares onto Atlas, prompting him to continue now that he had their attention, "Now, Hestia. You may be the boys birth mother, and you may want to be the one that raises him. But the fact remains that its Igneel who has been giving him all the love and care he could ever need. You don't have a right to claim him as yours." He said, getting the goddess to soften up slightly and look away.

Turning to Igneel, the hell-fire dragon continued, "As for you Igneel. While you have been the one raising the boy, he needs more than you even if he doesn't want more. He needs a mothers influence in his life, as well as someone who knows a bit more about human culture than us. Yes, Grandine is very fond of Natsu, but he doesn't see her very often. Not to mention Hestia does care for Natsu, the choice to raise him was taken out of her hands." Atlas finished. He stayed silent as he simply allowed the two to think over what he said for a few minutes before he continued, "Now, what I was thinking you could do is very simple. Igneel will still be the one raising him, but whenever she has the chance Hestia will be here to help. How does that sound to the both of you?"

Igneel looked away from his friend with a frown on his face, grumbling under his breath at his sound logic. He knew Natsu adored him, and the boy rarely asked for anything besides more training, food, and a spar. The boy thought that as long as he had Igneel, he would be fine. Igneel knew better however, knowing that it would be far better if he had a mother figure in his life than if he didn't. In addition to that, she could probably do a better job than him at teaching Natsu how to read and wright, as well as teach him human concepts. She may be a goddess, but she would certainly know more than he did.

Hestia on the other hand, made sure to stay turned away from both of the fire dragons. She too knew that Atlas was right in his reasoning, and there wasn't really any reason to fight with the fire dragon about it. After all, Natsu seemed very healthy even if he was unconscious at the moment, so he was probably being well-taken care of. She knew Natsu needed Igneel in his life, without him she knew he would break down. It wouldn't be fair to Natsu or Igneel if she just took Natsu, said she was hers, and left. Her domain revolved around family, not destroying it.

They both sighed in unison, before they looked up at the hell-fire dragon and give him their answer, "Lets give it a shot."

 **Fairly long chapter, with Natsus power beginning to mature in a way, the birth of the dark wizard Zeref, and Hestia being reintroduced and meeting Igneel and Atlas. I felt it was much more poetic if it would be through Hestia that Zeref figures out what happened, instead of having it spelled out for him. He doesn't need to be outright told, as long as hes given the right hints. Zeref is practically a genius after all.**

 **And before anyone goes and says "Oh Hestia is so ooc she over-reacted way too much" She is being possessive/ protective of her one and only son who was presumed murdered by his own father as a baby, when he was actually taken by dragons. She of course, had not been there to stop any of it. I just felt I'd do a little explaining now, instead of later when someone pisses me off.**


	5. Chapter 5

Third Person Igneel

 _Igneels cave_

It was after Atlas helped the goddess and the dragon king settle their issues -at least for the time being- that Igneel was allowed to let his mind return to the matters at hand, being far more pressing than the arrival of a goddess ever could be. And of course, that issue just so happened to be Natsu, coincidentally the very reason that the goddess had even showed and started causing problems in the first place. Sometimes that boy was a major pest and gave him the biggest headaches, and it didn't seem to matter if he was awake or not...

Regardless of the goddess in the cave, Igneel needed a way to get Natsu the water and nutrients he was going to need to live while he was unconscious. The boy wouldn't be able to survive more than four days at the most without water if he was lucky, yet if he just tried to give him water while he was unconscious he would very obviously drown. He wasn't trying to kill his son after all. He wasn't annoyed enough with him to try at the moment.

After the dragon king thought of everything he could do without getting any help, Igneel was beginning to consider going to Anna and getting help from her. She had been more than happy to help him the last time they needed it, maybe she would be able to help them again this time around. She was very smart, and a very powerful Celestial wizard. He was certain that if anyone was capable of finding a way to help him in his time of need, it would be her. Even if he ended up having to leave Natsu with her so she could take care of him, he could trust in her magic power to protect him.

Nodding to himself and settling on the decision, Igneel was about to pick Natsu up right before he heard the goddess speak up, "What happened to Natsu? Why is he unconscious? Is something wrong?" Turning to the goddess, Igneel could very clearly see the worry on her face. He supposed it was understandable, after all she was still his mother and she had come all the way here just to see him...

Sighing with a small shake of the head Igneel decided to forget about his irritation with her for now, if only for Natsu's sake, "He's going to be just fine. Nothing is wrong, this is what is supposed to happen in fact. He just now had a dragon slayer lacrima implanted into his body, his body is adapting to the new power accordingly. He will take a while to wake up however, and its because of that fact that I was going to take him over to a dear friend of mine. She is already familiar with Natsu, having helped me with him before. I am sure she won't mind helping again."

Hestia gave the massive fire dragon an odd look. Igneel sighed when he saw the look and gave her a tired look, prompting her to speak, "Why not leave him here and allow me to stay for a while? I should be able to take care of him just as well as this Anna can. He is my son after all, and this way you will be able to keep an eye on him along with me. Sound like a good idea?"

Igneel blinked before he hit face-palmed at what Hestia had suggested. Now that she had arrived, she made very good points. Natsu didn't have to go to Anna as long as Hestia was here, and while Anna was strong he would be safer if he was still under his and the goddesses watchful eyes...

"Yes, the idea has merit. Very well, you may stay to keep Natsu healthy. If you do have to leave before he wakes up, let me know so I can take him to Anna. For now, do whatever you need to do to make sure Natsu stays healthy.." He told her, agreeing with the plan. Of course, he was going to keep an eye on her just in case she wanted to be around so that she could take his son when he least expected it. If she did try to pull something like that...

Well, its a good thing he knew the location of a few dark guilds. At the thought, Igneel couldn't help but scoff, most dark mages being fairly weak and unorganized in comparison to the light guilds. Still, he would be more than satisfied in their destruction.

Third Person Hestia

Hestia wasn't exactly sure what to feel now that everyone had calmed down. On one hand, she was absolutely elated to find out that her son, who was supposedly dead, was alive safe and sound. On the other hand, his blood father had left him for dead. There were plenty of things Hestia was conflicted about in the situation, such as the fact that she hadn't been able to be their for him and the fact that he had been raised by a _dragon_ the entire time. She was happy she was being allowed to stay to watch over Natsu, but she was worried about his condition.

So much was going through the goddesses head based on the past couple of hours. If she hadn't already been through a lot in the past couple thousand years that shes been alive, she might have felt completely overwhelmed by everything that was happening. As things were, this was still pretty stressful for her. Not being eaten by your father and than puked up several years later stressful, but still stressful all the same.

She hovered her hands above her sons head, her hands being covered in a thin layer of fire. She let the fire flow into her sons mouth and down his throat, the boy not choking as she did so. His body gained a faint orange glow as she did this before it faded away. Hestia sighed and shook her head at the strangeness that was dragon slayer magic. She could only assume that was what the fire dragon king had meant by training, teaching him dragon slaying magic.

 _~Mini-Flashback~_

 _"Dragon slayers? What is supposed to be so special about them?" Hestia asked quietly, looking over at Brenton. They were both sitting together under the shade of a tree, simply enjoying each others company, when the topic of magic came up, subsequently dragon slayers became the topic of discussion. To Hestia there wasn't too much special about being a dragon slayer, at least not where she was from. Sure it was impressive to kill a dragon, but she didn't see the big deal._

 _Brenton simply shook his head and sighed however, a fond smile on his face as he looked over at Hestia, "Besides the fact that they can kill dragons, which are damn near unkillable by anyone but a dragon slayer or another dragon? That would be their magic, which is just called dragon slaying magic. Its fairly new, and it was made to help fight back against those dragons which devoured to consume humans. Humans learn it from dragons that are sympathetic to our plight, and gain the power of a dragon. They apparently have the ability to eat the element that they are trained to use."_

 _Hestia couldn't help but be a bit surprised at the apparent strength of a dragon, and that of a dragon slayer. Of course, it may be an exaggeration. It might just be the fact that no one has the proper means to actually kill a dragon in the world of Earthland. Regardless, she couldn't help but feel it would be interesting to meet one of these dragon slayers._

 _~Flashback end~_

Hestia smiled fondly down at Natsu and cut off the flow of fire, before she brought a hand down to caress his face. She would've never believed that her son would be one of the people to inherit dragon slaying magic. It did give her some comfort however, knowing that he would be more than capable of protecting himself when the time came to do so. Until that time came, she would be more than willing to watch over him.

The fire dragons behind her looked at her curiously, wondering why she was feeding Natsu fire. They knew that fire would strengthen a fire dragon slayer, but that wouldn't matter too much if he was A, not fighting, and B, unconscious. Igneel decided to speak up, questioning the goddesses idea, "Hestia, why are you feeding him fire? You are aware that it will do nothing for him in this state, correct?"

She nodded at the large fire dragons question, still keeping most of her attention on her son as she started to ruffle his hair a little bit, ruining the spiky look, "Yes, normal fire would indeed do nothing, and your fire would more than likely do nothing as well. However my fire is meant to nurture and strengthen the body, combine the fact that Natsu is my son and a dragon slayer, than it should do the job to keep him alive and well. He will be extremely hungry for proper food and water when he wakes up, but his body won't deteriorate."

Igneel seemed to accept the explanation that the goddess gave him, though he still seemed a bit skeptical at the idea of her fire preserving Natsu. Regardless, it was easy to see that he was relieved to know that Natsu was in more than capable hands now. He began to head back towards the entrance of the cave, speaking as he did so, "I shall go inform a few friends of mine than, it is best that they know of his condition." Right before he and Atlas could fly off however, Hestia waved a hand, allowing a large pile of raw meat to appear in front of the two dragons.

"Best not to fly on an empty stomach, correct? I may not have as much power here as I normally would, but I have more than enough to summon food. Even if its enough to feed behemoths such as yourselves." Hestia told them, deciding to explain before they asked any questions. Needless to say, the two fire dragons were surprised at the kind gesture, before they both sighed. Igneel relaxed if only a little bit, feeling the goddess was a bit more trustworthy, before he ate his fair share of the food, Atlas doing the same.

Once they had eaten it all, Atlas leaped into the air first and began to head back towards his own den, while Igneel looked back at Hestia, "Thank you Hestia, for everything you are doing and have already done. If something happens and you need help, try to send a signal. Maybe a pillar of fire. If its too difficult, take Natsu and hide. I'll find you both when I return." Igneel seemed to be anticipating trouble, why he was doing so the goddess didn't know.

Of course, she decided not to dwell on it too much and nodded in acknowledgement, "Of course. If anything happens I'll make sure to get your attention. If its anything dangerous I'll try to hold it back until you arrive, I'll hide if I have no other choice. What is it that makes you so worried?" She asked with a curious look in her eyes. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Igneel shiver a bit and turn away from her as he prepared to fly.

"Just a precaution. Don't worry about it..." He muttered, before taking off without another word, flying North away from the cave. Hestia couldn't help but feel a bit worried, unsure of what it would take to worry Igneel so much. He was more than willing to fight her, knowing she is a goddess. So what, exactly, could terrify him so much?

Third Person Igneel

 _'Acnologia the black dragon of the apocalypse... and vengeance.'_ He thought to himself with a frown set on his face, making his way towards a nearby mountain. Metalicana, Grandine, Skiadrum, and Weisslogia were all waiting for him to discuss a few important matters. They had all left their dragon slayers with Anna while they met up, having to discuss a few important topics they didn't want their children knowing about quite yet.

The one thing Igneel was worried about while he was away from Natsu was the black dragon of the apocalypse. Acnologia, the harbinger of the end, nightmare of all the dragons. Igneel and his allies had only escaped his wrath because he was currently busy hunting much more active dragons, however when he ran out of dragons to hunt, he would begin to look for those in hiding, such as Igneel and the others. An eventuality that they all feared.

Igneel knew the other dragons would be worried for their slayers as well, if Acnologia caught wind of their location he would certainly obliterate them before they ever had the chance to become a threat to him. Igneel wasn't as worried, knowing his sons mother would be capable of defending him if need be, and possibly holding off Acnologia until he could arrive to fight off the black dragon. Whether he could kill him or not was a whole other story however.

It wasn't long before Igneel arrived at the cave they were all meeting at, only to see that all the dragons had already arrived before him. Even Metalicana had gotten there before Igneel, getting the fire dragon to groan in annoyance at the sight before he shook his head, "I'm sorry that I was so late in arriving here, but a few things came up and I ended up getting delayed. Do you all have any news?"

The other dragons shared a few glances, before they all looked over at Metalicana. Upon further inspection, Igneel could see that the iron dragon seemed distressed for some reason. His eyes were closed and his fists were clenched, his claws digging into his hands and his mouth was shut tight. The fire dragon king was surprised to see his old friend and rival in such a state.

Grandine sighed and shook her head, speaking up and directing her attention to Igneel, "The iron dragon king, Titan, was killed recently by Acnologia. Acnologia ended up wiping out him and his guard, as well as the many iron dragons in the area. Metalicana was lucky to escape the massacre." She muttered, looking down at the ground and feeling sadness for the loss. At the same time, she also felt rage for the monster that had committed such an atrocious act.

Igneels eyes widened at the information before he looked back over at Metalicana in sympathy, "I am so sorry my friend... I wish there was something I could do. I promise you, we are going to bring about an end to Acnologias reign of terror." The strongest dragon in the group was disheartened by Metalicanas lack of response, though he was able to understand it. He looked around at the other dragons in the room in worry, "Has anything else happened? Do you all have anything else to report?"

Skiadrum spoke up this time, surprising Igneel due to his normally quiet nature, "Yes, it has to do with what your doing with Natsu. A few of us have decided that we wanted to give our dragon slayers a boost in power via dragon slayer lacrima like you did with Natsu. Grandine has already done so, while Weisslogia and I would like to simply make lacrima from our own power and trade them. Grandine has given Wendy a lightning lacrima, as for Metalicana... he is on board with the idea. We wanted to see if you'd be willing to give him a lacrima for Gajeel."

Igneel looked surprised at the fact that the other dragons had gone through with giving their dragon slayers lacrima. Though he supposed with the threat of Acnologia drawing closer with each day they hid, seemingly becoming much more aggressive than before, he supposed it made since that they would want to give their children as much power as possible in case they all had to face him together. Or if they had to face him at all...

"Well, at least you all have finally decided to listen. Hopefully we'll be able to ensure the kids are ready before Acnologia comes down on top of us. Hopefully..." He repeated softly, the other dragons all looking at Igneel with sad eyes. They all knew that Acnologia would kill them at some point, whether it be a few years from now or a few months. They hoped to get more training in before that eventuality occurred.

Grandine than spoke up, remembering a rather disturbing sight she had found on her way to the cave, "Actually Igneel, there is something else I forgot to mention. While I was on my way here, I flew over that village you showed me, the one you said your boy came from, or should have come from. I feel its important to tell you that everyone in the village was dead, and yet there was no sign of fighting or illness. It was as if they simply died where they were standing."

Igneel narrowed his eyes and turned towards the entrance of the cave, "We better go see what happened than. I don't like the thought of something that's able to massacre over a hundred people so easily. It seems too much like a human Acnologia, and we already have enough problems with the dragon as things stand." He took off once more, heading back to the village he had found near Natsu those many years ago. The other dragons followed after him, though Metalicana was a bit slower in doing so.

Third Person Zeref

The young man looked around at the bodies as he came back to the village, making his way to his house to grab a few things. He felt some remorse upon seeing the children that now lay dead on the ground, but it didn't cause him any great strife. He knew no one in the village besides his own parents, and even than he barely cared about them. He couldn't say he was gonna be very emotionally scarred by the fact that he had just killed so many innocent people.

The only thing he really cared about at the moment was the deeds of his father. His fists clenched at his side and his black eyes slowly became red, with darker red rings in them, making it seem as if the red were three circles surrounding one another. Another wave of darkness exploded outwards from him, killing off the crows that had descending upon the body of the villagers before they really had a chance to feast. The wizard struggled to reign in his temper, though after a few minutes he was able to manage it.

Zeref heard thunder come from the sky above, though he wasn't really that bothered by the idea of rain. As he continued to look around the village, occasionally going into a house here and there to see if other people actually had some variety in the village. It was when he came out of the house that he froze and looked up, finally taking notice of a very important fact.

The sky was clear, the sun was shining, and the sound of thunder seemed to be getting closer and getting louder.

Zeref felt stupid for the fact that he hadn't realized what was going on sooner as he ran back to the outskirts of the village and looked up at the sky, his suspicions confirmed upon seeing about half a dozen massive beasts approaching his village, and approaching very fast. Even with his newfound power, Zeref wasn't exactly confident in his ability to take on the dragons that were coming his way. Yet he knew he would never be able to hide or run.

He stood there, lying in wait for the dragons as they approached. It wasn't long before they landed in front of him, standing out amongst all the death. None of them showed any sign of hostility towards him, which he felt slightly grateful for. Maybe they were those "Friendly" dragons that he had heard so much about. Of course, that didn't mean he was going to let his guard down.

"He seems very... young. But I can smell the death magic lingering in the air around him." It was the red dragon who spoke, seemingly leading the other dragons that had come with him to the village. He turned back to the black wizard with narrowed eyes and tensed muscles, ready to lunge at the human should he be a threat, "So what is your name boy? I assume your the reason these people died?" He questioned.

Zeref nodded at the massive fire dragon and decided to go along with his questions, "Yes, I would just so happen to be the reason these people were wiped out. My name is Zeref Dragneel. I wouldn't worry too much about these people, they were all emotionless husks for the most part, capable of terrible acts. My father even left my brother in the middle of the woods so that he would die and no one would find him. I can only assume that he is dead..." He muttered under his breath, looking down at the ground.

He missed the fire dragons eyes widening, as well as the sympathy that was in all of the dragons eyes. They of course felt bad for his loss, and a bit angry at what he had done, but the fire dragon... the circumstances and location were a bit coincidental. Of course, he wanted to make sure, "Oh? I am sorry for your loss, I can only imagine it must have hurt to know your father would do such a thing. Tell me, what was the name of your brother?"

"His name?" He looked up at the fire dragon with sad, curious eyes, "Natsu. His name was Natsu..." He told the fire dragon softly, not exactly sure what to expect from him. At least, he assumed it was a him. He wasn't all too knowledgeable on the subject of dragons, besides the fact that they were extremely powerful.

"Natsu..." The fire dragon nodded to himself, the dragons behind him seeming surprised at the answer, though the dragon covered in metal didn't have much of a reaction at the answer. Zeref could see the fire dragon come to some sort of decision as he opened his mouth and began to speak again, "Young Zeref, how would you feel if you could meet your brother?"

Third Person Hestia

Hestia sat in the cave, alone for the most part except for the still unconscious Natsu. Hestia had gone and laid his head down in her lap so that he would be a bit more comfortable, keeping one hand on each side of his head as she smiled down at him. Even if he was unconscious, just being able to be with her child and see that he is alive and well, it filled her with joy. Especially after she had came to the conclusion that her former lover had killed him.

She leaned her head down and touched their foreheads together, tears welling up in her eyes before they dropped down onto her sons face. They weren't tears of sadness, rather they were tears of joy. Sure she did have a few that her brother may kill Natsu if he discovered him, but she also knew she would fight for him. She had already lost her son once, there was no way in hell she was ever going to lose him again. She knew she would have the help of the two fire dragons who had been raising him as well, giving her more confidence in regards to her sons safety.

While she was also relishing in the fact that she could finally be with her son, that she finally had a chance to be his mother, his _guide_ , she was also leaving her senses open. She was making sure that nothing was approaching the cave, and that nothing dangerous was even in the general area. She knew that if danger came, every second was going to count, to call Igneel and to hold off or kill the threat. She wasn't normally a very violent goddess, very far from it, but she would sooner incinerate a group of humans than allow anyone to lay a hand on her son.

The hair stood up on the back of her neck and her eyes widened as she realized that a group of dragons was beginning to approach. She could tell they all had the same feeling of an innate primal power that Igneel and Atlas did. She could tell that Igneel was in front of the group, however as far as she knew he was running from the other dragons. He may be strong, but as far as she knew he was unable to take on a group of dragons. She took one of her heads away from Natsus head and pointed it towards the entrance of the cave, ready to send a blast of fire at anything that wasn't Igneel.

She kept her hand up and aimed at the entrance when Igneel came in, though she was able to take from his posture that everything was safe, getting her to begin relaxing. However she was still ready to attack in the case that he simply wasn't worried about the other dragons, even if they were a threat. In that case, she would be ready to turn them into ash.

When the other dragons began to enter the cave, and they did nothing to Igneel and simply gave her a look that seemed to be a combination of both respect, and caution. When none of them attacked and they had all entered the cave, she lowered her arm and calmed down. She brought her hand back down to Natsus head and kept her eyes on the new dragons, her eyes slightly widening upon noticing a young man with black hair on Grandine's back, "Zeref? What are you doing here? I thought you had to go and see your father?"

The boy gave her a small smile, hopping off of Grandine and making his way over to his brother and Hestia, "My father is dead, no longer able to draw breath in this world. I figured he deserved that much for what he tried to do to my little brother, and for how he lied to you." He told her honestly, not being very bothered at the fact that he just admitted that he committed patricide.

Hestia... honestly wasn't all that bothered that by the fact that Brenton was dead. After the way he had betrayed her trust, after the unspeakable act he had done, she was more than willing to allow his death to slide. Plus she didn't want to take the chance away for Zeref to meet his little brother.

Zeref brought a hand down to his chest to feel his heart beat, upon discerning that it was strong and healthy he breathed a sigh of relief. It was clear that Zeref had been worried upon seeing him unconscious, much like she had been when she first laid her eyes on him. Even though Zeref had never thought of having a brother before, it was clear he already cared for Natsu.

Third Person Igneel

"Zeref, can we have a word with you for a moment?" Igneel was calling the dark wizard over, wanting to discuss something with him. He and his allies had gathered that Zeref was a kind young man, despite his lack of sympathy for the people of his village. They were sure that if Brenton had never tried to get Natsu killed, he would of more than likely continued on in the village peacefully.

Zeref seemed to be slightly annoyed as he looked back up at Igneel from his little brother and got up slightly reluctantly before walking back over to the group of dragons and crossed his arms, beginning to tap his foot as he looked at them, "Well, what is it that you all need?"

"We need your help Zeref. You are only the second mage we have as a friend, which is why we do need your help. There is a dragon that is hunting down all others, killing dragons and dragon slayers indiscriminately. Eventually, he will find us. Of course, you know what that means." Igneel explained, a grim look on his face as he looked at Zeref.

The dark wizard paled when Igneel told him how this dragon was killing dragon slayers. He knew that this essentially put Natsu in this mad dragons line of fire. He realized that Igneel had mentioned being the second mage they knew for a reason and decided to question him, "While I'm sure its important that I know, what part do I play in all this? If this dragon is hunting others, and he is winning, than there is no way that I could stop him."

"The part you play... our other mage friend, Anna, has an idea for a gate. All it requires is a powerful source of dark magic, and someone who will be able to help with its construction... She calls this gate Eclipse."

 **So this chapter was supposed to end over 1k words ago. I kept on going as I felt y'all deserved it. I hope you all like the idea I am going with for the dragon slayers all getting a dual element mode, modes which I think make since. Now, I am very well aware that the Eclipse gate is a creation of Zeref. However, as things are, we simply do not have the time for him to learn more about magic, get ideas for the Eclipse, and to than build it. I plan on having it used three years from now. Of course, I'm not going to stick on Natsu's unconscious phase, I think I'll do another one year time skip, maybe two year, than after that we'll get to Eclipse and so on.**

 **Now someone in the reviews said something about "Oh, just wait for Hestia to meet Acnologia." Blah blah blah, and I want to clear something up. Acnologia is not gonna be the only villain with monstrous strength, and I am not talking OC villains. I'm talking canon villains, with the strength they deserve. Not saying they are gonna be all Fairy Tail however. Also on the whole Acnologias strength thing, yeah he is terrifyingly powerful, yes he is a badass... but so is Igneel. You can't be a nobody, fight Acnologia while your soul is damaged and when your lifespan has been shortened to mere minutes or hours, and still be able to tear off his arm. And still have enough power left to give your son a temporary badass mode.**

 **This chapter, without the note, was nearly 5k words, one of my longest chapters to date if NOT my longest. I hope you all enjoyed!**


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